Gifty Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Loaves

Once upon a yoga retreat, we were sitting around talking food (as usual) and the subject of baking with pumpkin came up. Perhaps it was the fall season or the fact that I’ve had a can of it in my pantry for a year, but whatever the reason I was really excited to try a new pumpkin-something recipe. My friend Nils swore by his pumpkin chocolate chip muffins… he went on and on about how really really really good they were. So, of course, I had to follow up and make sure I got that recipe! He emailed it to me a week or so later and then I tucked it away because I was in the process of moving and pumpkin was the last thing on my mind.

Upon getting settled in Portland, I was brainstorming what kind of seasonal treat I could bake for my new neighbors when I remembered Nils’ pumpkin muffins. Aha! Instead of using a muffin tin, I bought recycled disposable mini loaf containers for a more gifty presentation. I had to double the original recipe (I’m not sure of its source- Nils, if you know, will you please post it?) and I omitted the suggested nuts because I wanted more chocolate chips.

These loaves, I must say, are absolutely fabulous! They have the perfect ratio of spice to pumpkin to bread to chocolate chip. And they have a divine texture. They are quite versatile and can be served as breakfast, snack, or dessert. Plus, they are oh so cute! They keep well in an air tight container for 2 days or can be frozen for a couple of weeks. The following recipe makes 7 mini loaves.

For the Loaves:

2 1/3 cups flour

2 cups sugar

2 tablespoons pumpkin pie spice

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 eggs

1 can pumpkin

1 cup butter

2 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

To Make the Loaves:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Melt butter in a small saucepan, set aside.

If using non-disposable pans, grease them, set aside.

Whisk together flour, sugar, pie spice, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl, set aside.

Whisk eggs in a small bowl.

Add pumpkin and melted butter to eggs and whisk until smooth.

Stir in chocolate chips to pumpkin mixture.

Pour pumpkin mixture into dry mixture and fold until just mixed.

Scoop batter into pans until 3/4 full.

Place filled loaf pans on a large cookie sheet.

Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a loaf comes out clean.

Cool on a wire rack.

(1 votes, average: 5 out of 5)

Loading ...

This entry was posted
on Sunday, November 30th, 2008 at 9:06 pm and is filed under Cakes.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

An itsy bit about Kricket

I am a lover of all things sweet- baking, eating and gazing at homemade treats is one of my favorite past times!
I do have a day job (that doesn't involve baking) so my culinary adventures are pretty much limited to the weekends when I have the most time.
I have started this blog to share good recipes with friends and family and to learn from others how to make them even better.
Thanks for stopping by and doing your part to make the world a sweeter place!
-Kricket